Rotation
by Andy-qinxin
Summary: Maura has a shadow in autopsy. And she is a million time worse than Susie in Jane's eyes. It took someone else's asking Maura out to make Jane realize she will use up all her chances and lose the blonde doctor she secretly loved.


Rotation

One-shot

First attempt of Rizzles

Note that English is not my first language.

You might not want to read this fic if dead bodies get to you as much as they get to Frost.

Summary: Maura has a shadow in autopsy. And she is a million time worse than Susie in Jane's eyes. It took someone else's asking Maura out to make Jane realize she will use up all her chances and lose the blonde doctor she secretly loved.

I don't own anything other than Andrea. Oh wait, I don't own her as well cuz she is me. (But she is a fictional version of me and a lot of what she has and gets are what I don't have and wish for.) Please don't judge this original character until you have finished the entire story.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 0<strong>

_Office of Donald Anspaugh, MD., School of Medicine, Boston Cambridge University_

"Med-student? Shadowing me?" Maura Isles had her eyes wide open facing the dean of BCU School of Medicine.

"I'm so sorry Doctor Isles." The older man sounded truly apologetic. "It was a mistake and there is no other way out than letting her having this two-week forensic medicine rotation."

"But BCU don't offer forensic medicine rotation since seven years ago. And even if it was seven years ago Doctor Washburn in Springfield would take her." Maura felt her head spinning. A young med-student from Asia, having received some completely different training in a med-school she had never heard of with zero experience in pathology or forensics could be disastrous. With her work load how was she supposed to teach anything? What if the rookie contaminates some DNA sample? Or mess up the mass spectrometer settings?

"Doctor Washburn retired last year. Look, Doctor Isles, I owe you this one. The international exchange students' clinical rotation program files never took 'Forensics' down and this girl, Andrea, she is arriving today and will start tomorrow." Doctor Anspaugh reached for a file on the shelf to hand over to Maura.

"But…but…"Maura tried to find some excuse as she went through the student file.

"No buts. Just have her shadow you, two weeks and you will be off the hook, chief medical examiner."

Maura stared at her boss, only to get a slight wave of hand motioning for her to leave his office.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 1<strong>

_Office of Maura Isles, MD, Boston Police Department Headquarter_

Maura looked up as she heard a knock on her door. In comes a young Asian girl, in her early 20s, wearing a simple white shirt and dark skinny jeans, hair pulled back into a ponytail and a huge backpack.

"Doctor Maura Isles? My name is Andrea. I am, er, the med-student, er, for the forensic medicine rotation." Said the girl with a shy voice and slightly weird accent.

"Oh yes, I'm expecting you. Have a seat."

Andrea looked around, eyes settling on the strangely shaped red coaches, frowned a bit before carefully sat down.

Maura came join, "So, you'll be here for two weeks?" Receiving nothing but a stare and a slight nod, she had to continue, "You will be assisting on autopsies, running blood tests and doing microscopy examinations. There are also a large amount of equipments here that can't be found in a hospital lab, so if you don't know what to do sometime, just ask me. OK?"

Another nod.

"Do you understand what I just said?" Maura raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?...yes." Andrea's voice was barely audible.

"Do you have any questions then?" Maura managed to squeeze a smile.

Head shaking.

"Okay… why don't you tell me a bit about yourself, you know, considering we are going to work together and this is not like any other rotation as you won't be treating patients but working with me and my team. It had been proved that with someone you have knowledge of your efficiency is higher." Maura forced her smile to stay.

"I…"

Before Andrea could start, Jane Rizzoli came inside the office. "You are not answering your phone, Maur. We gotta go. Dead girl found in her apartment."

"Oh. My phone is at the desk." Looking at the younger women for a bit Maura told Jane to meet her at the car.

"I gotta run. Why don't you go find Susie Chang and have her show you around and tell you a bit about how we run things here?" Grabbing her leather medicine case Maura headed towards the door.

"Dr. Isles? I…" Andrea's voice caused Maura to turn around. "I'm sorry. It's just… my English is no good. Especially, er, when speaking to someone, er, new." She was looking at the floor when speaking.

"Okay. We'll talk when I get back." With that Maura Isles hurried outside.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 2<strong>

_Autopsy, Boston Police Department Headquarters_

"Pass me the curved tissue scissors." Maura asked Andrea as they were performing autopsy on the victim, both dressed in black scrubs and light blue surgical gowns.

"Here."

Maura explains as she cuts through the vessels, "Superior vena cava, aorta, both pulmonary arteries and veins and last but not least inferior vena cava." She moved aside a bit so the Asian could remove the heart and weigh it.

"Next we check the stomach content. Personally that's my favorite part."

Somehow Maura had to admit Andrea was good with anatomy procedures as she watched her swiftly cut through omentum majus and isolated the stomach with clamps.

"Use bowel clamps on the upper side of cardia and lower side of pylorus before removing the stomach."

As Andrea reached for the scalpel the doors swung open, walking in two figures-Jane Rizzoli and Barry Frost. Yet only one made it to the autopsy table.

"Anything for me Maura?" asked the dark-haired detective.

"I'm just about to review the stomach content." Cutting the organ open she found it empty. "Well she hadn't eaten anything at least 6 hours prior to her death."

"You said the time of death was around 11 am, so what? She skipped breakfast?" asked Jane.

"Probably even dinner the night before." Interrupted Andrea, and apologized when she noticed the deadly stare from Jane focusing on her, "I'm sorry. But check out the mucosa on her small and large intestine." She stepped back allowing Maura to examine the alimentary canal.

"She's right, Jane. It's likely that our victim had anorexia." The chief medical examiner informed the detective.

"Likely? I thought you don't guess." Joked Jane.

"I didn't. It was a properly scientifically based speculation. I'd say based on previous autopsies I had conducted and reviewed this girl has a 92% of possibility of suffering from anorexia." The blonde was all business.

"Alright. Thanks Maur." Jane Rizzoli turned on her heels and left.

"Good work doctor." A compliment from Maura caused Andrea to smile under her surgical mask.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 6<strong>

_Dirty Robber's Bar_

The case was closed earlier that day, meaning Jane could have the rest of her weekend all to herself. And yet she was drinking beer on her own in Dirty Robber's. Maura was tied up working on a suspicious death sent from Mercy Hospital ten minutes before her getting off for the day.

That's why she was more than surprised to see the honey-blonde walking through the door.

"Two hours for an autopsy? I thought you don't rush science." Jane took a sip of beer before commenting with a smirk.

"I don't. Andrea is finishing up for me." Maura sat down and signaled the bartender for her usual wine.

Jane raised an eyebrow and said nothing. She didn't need to. The two of them could always communicate with only looks and no word.

"I was able to determine the cause of death. Even though I didn't finish the entire autopsy myself my findings were decisive. Andrea is just finishing up the routine work and filling out the forms." Maura stated in a matter-of-factly manner.

"So do we have a case?" The last thing Jane Rizzoli needed at this moment was another murder to investigate, let alone on a Saturday night.

"Oh it's a case; just not a criminal case, but a malpractice one. Apparently the surgeon left some dressings inside the patient's thorax and they didn't saw the problem until he developed toxemia." Maura said with a smile, the kind of smile that melts Jane's heart.

Unbeknown to Maura, Jane had been attracted to her. Probably since a few months into working together, Jane would find her thoughts wandering off whenever she was around Maura. And as time went by those thoughts tend to go into dangerous territories. It's not that she hadn't pictured herself moving forward and changing the nature of their relationship; it's the vicious nature of her job and what she encounters on a daily basis made her realize that she'd rather keep things down than hurting someone she loves. The problem was, no matter how hard she tried, the feeling were not fading away and hiding them behind the friendship she treasured was getting tougher.

"Jane?" Maura asked as her best friend hadn't moved an inch in minutes.

_Oh shit. She caught me staring. Again._

"Er…nothing." Jane downed the last bit of her beer before walking over to the counter in an attempt to hide her blush.

When she came back she decided "someone else" was a safe topic. "I thought you hated the idea of a med-student following you around? Guess it's working out well now."

"Well, she's competent and a fast learner. I suppose a little help is not exactly a bad thing." And here she was again, the doctor side of Maura Isles that would pop up every time work-related things are discussed. This side of Maura attracted Jane a lot. She loved the way the scientist admire her own job and everything about medicine and/or science. And of course, she loved the doctor at work.

"You speak highly of her." She managed to say something before her staring got too weird this time.

"Yeah. Well, she knows her procedures and you know what? She told me they don't take forensics medicine as a branch of medicine at all where she came from, thus this rotation with me is her only chance of knowing this fascinating subject first-handedly. What's better thing to do than fulfilling the willing mind of the youth?" Another flash of smile.

Jane's mind flew away yet again. _No, this isn't a safe topic. _She mentally slapped herself and nodded as somewhat a response and went on finding something else to talk about.

And they ended up gossiping all night about Frankie's new online girlfriend, whom neither of them had even seen a picture of.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 10<strong>

_Autopsy, Boston Police Department Headquarters_

Things had been slow for the homicide detectives this week, yet the same can't be said about those downstairs at autopsy as Maura and her team was working on an old John Doe trying to rule whether it's an accident or foul play.

Susie came in with a report in hand, "Liver pathology section microscopy confirms severe alcoholic cirrhosis, but the BAL is 0.09, not exactly high."

"Well this is an elderly man and we can't rule out accidental falling." Maura never guessed.

"They did find him by the stairs and we have decided the COD as subdural hematoma, without further information what else can we do? Want me to make a to-scale-reconstruction model?" asked Susie.

"Yeah, you do that. And I'll ask the uniforms do some more canvassing around the area. I hate to tag a body indecisive." Sighed Maura.

"Would it help if we can determine whether he had osteoporosis?" Suggested Andrea after Susie disappeared into the lab.

"What do you mean? We can tell that with the x-ray already."

"Yes, but we don't know how severe his case was and how easily it would have been for him to fall and hit his head."

"Do tell." The younger women had successfully grasped Maura's full attention.

"I've read this review on osteoclasts. If osteoblasts supply RANKL too much, it would cause the over-expression of RANK and thus…"

Andrea's words were interrupted by Jane coming inside the autopsy lab. "Wanna grab lunch Maur?"

"Hang on, Jane. I'm kinda busy." Maura eyed the brunette before focusing back on the subject "you were saying?"

"Ok…er… if RANK is over-expressed you would have too much osteoclasts causing unbalanced coupling, leading to osteoporosis and the extent of which should be determinable by the level of RANKL. So all we need to do is make a model _in vivo _and…"

"That's a good idea Andrea. Look, why don't you join us for lunch? We can get things going in the afternoon." Maura's eyes shine with happiness as a problem was solved.

A hint of disapproval appeared on Jane's face and faded rather soon. She wouldn't say anything, of course.

"I think I'll stay here and have the RANKL level tested and set everything up. Thank you for the offer though, Doctor Isles. Enjoy your lunch." Andrea said quietly, easing Jane's mind slightly.

Maura smiled at both women facing her, "alright then, let me grab my purse and I'll bring you a turkey sub, Andrea."

"Thanks." Replied the Asian as she busied herself with blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples.

As Jane walked behind Maura into the doctor's office, she couldn't help but wonder. It had been only a few days, ten days to be exact, and Maura seemed to have become good friends with this med-student. Maura didn't usually warm up to people that fast. It took them four cases together before they went for drinks alone and two months before knowing each other's coffee orders.

_This is ridiculous_, Jane told herself. _Just a sandwich, nothing more that. _Maura had friends she didn't know about. Maura knew doctors and scientists that Jane would find boring and unexciting. _No, this is different._ The way they worked together earlier seemed different. In the past few days Andrea had came to the point where she didn't need Maura to tell her which piece of equipment to pass along next and she would get the right type of clamp. Jane never figured the 20+ different clamps Maura uses even after years of friendship.

_It's a doctor's thing. You are over-thinking_.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 12<strong>

_Maura's House_

Maura was on her coach, a piece of mushroom pizza in hand, eyes glued to her flat screen, amazed by the Da Vinci Surgical System documentary.

On the other end of the coach was Jane Rizzoli, not touching her side of extra pepperoni pizza. Her mind was preoccupied, with the women by her side to be specific.

_Should I do something? Ask her out in a more than friendly kind of way?_ The same question she had wondered a million times.

_No._ The same answer for the one million and one time.

_It would ruin what we have now. This friendship is good enough. No need to wrack that._ The same excuse, the same fear deep down.

_Get a grip Jane Rizzoli!_ Sometime she pictured them together, as a couple. And those images made it harder for her not to act out her impulses. A part of Jane wanted to take her chances and hope for the best. Another part of her was cautious and held back.

She wanted to date Maura Isles. She wanted to woo her. She wanted to be the other half that Maura always needed. She wanted to kiss those soft lips. And she wanted so much more.

_Damn it Jane Clementine Rizzoli! How dare you think like that while she is three feet away from you! _Jane glanced over only to find Maura still 110% into the TV.

She tried to move her line of sight yet it fall onto Maura's lips. And Jane couldn't take her eyes away. She watched Maura take a bite of her pizza, and another bite, and another. All of a sudden she wanted to kiss those lips. It was an urge stronger than ever, which Jane didn't want to ignore or to overcome. She wanted to kiss her best friend, right then and there. Scratch that. She wanted to kiss the women she secretly loved.

**ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ**

Her phone vibrated, causing Jane to withdraw her attention from Maura and the latter from the delicate movements of the robotic arm on TV.

"Rizzoli." She answered with a voice hoarser than normal.

"Okay, we'll be right there." The detective went back into her working mode in a heartbeat, "Maura, we gotta go. Floater just got washed up."

"Oh. I'll grab my stuff. Er…"Maura wasn't finishing her sentence.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm driving my own car. Andrea asked me if she can tag along to the next crime scene and I said yes. She doesn't have a car so I'm gonna call her now and pick her up. Meet you at the scene later?" A hint of apology in Maura's tune. Or maybe it was discreet.

Jane froze and unfroze in a millisecond. "Yeah, sure."

_You are taking her to a crime scene? Really? A crime scene?_

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 13<strong>

_Autopsy, Boston Police Department Headquarters_

Jane walked towards autopsy at the wrong time. With the unlocked doors she could hear everything from outside.

Inside the blonde doctor was dissecting the lungs while the med-student assisted. "Visible fluid in both lungs, take a sample."

"Yes, doctor."

"Well, unless tests came back suggesting not the same components as that of the river water, this man's cause of death is drowning. And based on the two parallel bruises on his back I would determine him to have been pushed."

Andrea put aside her equipments, "I guess that was my last autopsy. Thank you so much Doctor Isles. I've learned a lot."

"Always a pleasure." Maura was polite, as usual. "Your rotation will be officially over in 30 minutes. I'll have your evaluation sent to the school first thing tomorrow."

"Thank you Doctor Isles." Andrea murmured as she walked behind Maura to untie the knots of her surgical gown.

"You know, Andrea, you don't always have to be so cautious around me. Like I said earlier, you can call me Maura, you know." She smiled under the surgical mask; but it was the same kind of smile Jane would get from her best friend.

Taking off her gloves and walking around, Andrea took a deep breath. "In that case, Maura, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." Maura noticed the look from the women across went straight into her own eyes.

"Now that you are not my evaluator…" Andrea tilted her head, "Will you have dinner with me?"

"What?" Maura was caught by surprise, her eyes widening.

"I didn't mean to spook you." The Asian tried to explain. "It's just… I like working with you… I like you. And I have seven more weeks at BCU Medical Centre here in Boston. I just really like to know you better, Maura." Her eyes shined with sincere.

Maura's facial expression softened. "Like…a date?"

"If you say so. Yeah, a date." Andrea had a broad smile on her face.

Silence fall.

_Tic-toc tic-toc_. One could hear the clock on the wall.

"Sure, I'd like that." Maura finally answered, returning the smile with hers.

Jane froze. She didn't push through the door.

_Shit. I missed my chance. _It felt surreal. Maura just agreed to a date with a twenty-two-year-old girl? It's different when Maura was dating men. Maura always put Jane before any guy. Their friendship came first. This time Jane was pulled out of her safe zone. It's everyone's game now, only with Andrea having a head-start.

_Wait. Isn't she leaving soon?_ Maybe it was just a fling.

_No. She mentioned wanting to move to the states after graduation._ Jane never expected this. She never expected Maura to date women, partly the reason why she hadn't asked Maura out herself. She never expected herself to feel jealous over Maura. And here she was, green-eyed, regretting.

"Tomorrow? I'll meet you at seven?"

"I thought you don't have a car?"

"I didn't. But I'm gonna need a rental from now on for communication to and from the hospital so…"

"Ahh… Yes tomorrow night at seven sounds great."

Jane could hear the conversation went on and it was as though from afar.

She turned around and walked back into the elevator.

* * *

><p><strong>DAY 14<strong>

_Multiple Locations, Boston Police Department Headquarters_

Jane couldn't focus on her work. Not after what happened yesterday. Nor did she get any sleep the night before.

It felt like she missed out. Yes she would always have the friendship, well unless if Jane was to shoot Paddy Doyle all over again, which was unlikely by the way. But was this enough? Sometimes she told herself yes because the truth hurt too much. Not knowing if Maura was interested in women was one thing, while finding out the answer she had wished for in this painful way was another.

"You ok there Jane?" asked Korsak from across the office.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." It took Jane Rizzoli a little bit longer to response.

"Okay… Any thoughts on our floater?" The older detective sensed the uneasiness in his former partner, yet he knew better than to ask. His only response was a shake of head.

A few minutes went by and Jane couldn't take it any longer. "I'll go grab some coffee." She almost ran away from her desk.

Inside the elevator was a crime lab tech, heading down to the basement. And for some weird reason Jane didn't have the strength to push the "G" bottom.

Jane walked towards Maura's office when her rational mind was screaming _NO._

"What's up Jane?" Maura asked when she finally noticed the visitor, not knowing how long Jane had been standing by her door.

Or was it awkwardness? "Huh?" Jane was brought down back to earth by Maura's voice.

_Shit. Why am I here? What am I going to say? _"Oh yeah, I came here to ask you if you are free tonight. I was thinking drinks at Dirty Robbers?" Words popped out before her brain processed.

_TONIGHT! Good job Jane Rizzoli! _She mentally kicked herself.

"I'm sorry Jane, but I already have plans. Rain Check?" An apologetic smile flashed on Maura's face. Somehow Jane still found that charming.

Her mouth went dry. Maybe there was nothing she can do after all. _Say something! Before she sees something is off with you! _"Yeah, no worry. Some other time would do." All she did was whispering and turning around to leave the office.

With every step she took, it felt like one more piece of her heart being torn apart.

_Do something! Jane Clementine Rizzoli! Otherwise you would end up regretting for the rest of your life!_

She kept walking. _It's too late._

_It's never too late. You are not even in the game yet!_

She pushed the elevator bottom. _Being besties is more than good. I should be satisfied._

_Except that you are not. You will never get what you never went after._

She kept pushing the bottom, hoping for the sooner arrival of her escape from the basement. _Saying anything would only make things a thousand times more complicated._

_Then don't say anything. Show her how much you love her._

_WHAT? _Jane was terrified by her own mind.

Maybe someone was pulling the string on a puppet named Jane Rizzoli. Maybe Jane was indeed out of her mind.

Her legs turned around and headed back to the office she just exited; her hands pushed open the door; her body moved forward until she was right by Maura's side.

"Anything else?" Maura stood up as Jane was invading in her personal space. Not that she minded at all, just that things felt off, way off.

"Just one thing." Jane wouldn't even recognize her own voice.

"What is…"

Maura's response was muffled as Jane's lips crashed on hers, all of a sudden.

She froze.

Jane pulled back seconds later, pupils dilated. "I had to try."

"Why?" Shock was detectable in the doctor's voice.

"Because I fell for you. Since longer than I can remember." Jane raised her hand to touch Maura's cheek.

"Why now?" Maura continued the whisper as she leaned into Jane's touch.

"I… I heard something yesterday…" Her hand dropped. "Sorry, I shouldn't have eavesdropped."

A smirk began to develop on the honey-blonde's face as she picked the scarred hand back up to her face.

"Maura…" _Maybe I should run away. I crossed the line. There's no going back. _

Maura just stared into the detective's eyes, smiling and speechless.

Moments later she closed the gap.

Their lips touched again.

And then they were kissing, mouths open and totally enjoying themselves.

Jane felt like the luckiest women in the world.

Later that day Jane was walking pass the Division One Café with Frost as they were heading to question a person-of-interest when she recognized two familiar figures inside the café-Andrea and Frankie, having coffee together. Angela walked over, chocolate brownies in hand, sat down and joined the conversation.

Jane looked at this picture._ This is not right. Just not right._ Problem was she didn't even know what's wrong.

"Frost? Why is Maura's med-student still here? Isn't her rotation finished? And why is she having coffee with Frankie and Ma?"

The younger detective retracted his steps. "She's Frankie's new girl. You know… the one from online." Seeing Jane's jaw dropping he shut his mouth.

"Anything I should know about?" The "Bad Cop Jane" tune showed up.

"More like something you shouldn't know about." Frost sighed. "Frankie made me promise not to tell anyone unless the two of them work out some match-making plan that he wouldn't elaborate."

"Match-making?" Jane raised an eyebrow.

"Hey I really don't know anything else. I don't think Mrs. Rizzoli knew either." Frost motioned towards the doors, "I'll get the car started."

_Match-making?_

_Oh I know what it's about._

Jane smiled, realizing what had changed in her life and how exactly did it happen.

_Damn you Frankie. Match-making? Me and Maura? _

The smile turned into a smirk.

_Well maybe nobody knows you better than a sibling after all._

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><p><strong>The end<strong>

_Reviews?_


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